LSI Raid Controller with Windows Server

Thomas Rieder

• 1 min read

Today I installed Update 1 for my Windows Server 2012 R2. This update adds numerous features, most notably better mouse and keyboard support. You can read all about the changes here and here. Unfortunately, after rebooting my server, both of my LSI Raid controllers were unavailable due to an ominous error 10.

Both of my RAID controllers are IBM M1015s cross-flashed to LSI 9211-8is (IT mode). The hardware is actually the same and the IBM controller is ~60 bucks cheaper. As it turns out, I wasn't the only one having problems with LSI RAID controllers in combination with the Windows spring update. Here is how I fixed the issue:

  • Download the newest firmware and drivers from the LSI website
  • Unpack the archives and copy the appropriate versions of the following files into a single directory: sas2flash.exe, mptsas2.rom, 2118it.bin
  • deactivate and reenable the RAID controller in the device manager
  • Check what firmware you are currently running: sas2flash.exe -listall
  • Get the SAS address of the controllers: sas2flash.exe -c x -list, $x \in \{0, 1\}$
  • Flash ALL the firmwares: sas2flash.exe -fwall 2118it.bin
  • Flash ALL the BIOS: sas2flash.exe -biosall mptsas2.rom
  • Write the address to the controller: sas2flash.exe -o -c x -sasadd ADDRESS, $x \in \{0, 1\}$ (this step might seem useless, but for me it actually didn't work without it - I am not sure why though)
  • Install the new driver using the Device Manager
  • Reboot

As of the time of writing the newest firmware version is 18.00.00.00, the bios version is 07.35.00.00 and the driver version is 2.0.69.1. All of the above commands need to be run from an elevated command prompt.